Red tape blamed for government's slow progress on fires<\/p>\n
PC Naommy, Jakarta<\/p>\n
One reason why it takes so long to put out fires here is that the
\nessential information needed winds up and down the halls of
\nofficialdom, a forest fire expert said.<\/p>\n
Forest fire expert Bambang Hero Saharjo from the Bogor
\nAgricultural Institute (IPB) cited on Saturday the fact that at
\nthe level of the local authorities, it normally takes two weeks
\nto get hot spot coordinates -- at the fastest -- due to red tape.<\/p>\n
\"So it would be too late, even for the forest fire brigades to
\ntake action in putting out the fires,\" said Bambang.<\/p>\n
An official at the Ministry of Forestry's information center,
\nhowever, said local officials should take the initiative
\nthemselves to access the relevant information on the ministry's
\nwebsite.<\/p>\n
Forest fires recur every dry season despite various measures
\nat the regional, national and local level. The last fires
\noccurred last month, leading to haze which disrupted flights and
\nendangered the health of people both at home and in neighboring
\nMalaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Bambang added that while the slash and burn method can still,
\nunder certain conditions, be tolerated for farmers with land
\nholdings under two hectares, it is not allowed for plantation
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
The economic crisis and high operational costs of heavy
\nequipment for land clearing have been cited as excuses for the
\ncontinued use of slash and burn methods by companies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, measures to prevent fires are still ignored,
\nsuch as information on how to regulate land clearing in a safe
\nway, meteorologist Edi Santoso said.<\/p>\n
Edi, who works at the Agency For the Assessment and
\nApplication of Technology (BPPT) suggested that lack of
\ncoordination hampered the application of technology.<\/p>\n
His colleague Izzat Farahidy added, \"The use of technology to
\nprevent fires will not be seen as binding unless local
\ngovernments support its implementation through the law.\"<\/p>\n
The Agency has already developed the Fire Danger Rating System
\n(FDRS), a technology adopted from Canada that helps local
\ngovernments to prevent fires caused by the slash and burn
\nagriculture.<\/p>\n
The information which local authorities, companies and farmers
\ncould use, Edi said, includes \"recommendations on regulating
\nwhen, how, and where the slash and burn method could be applied.\"<\/p>\n
The country currently has 126 automatic weather stations
\ncomplete with the FDRS technology and plans to add 21 new
\nstations in West and Central Kalimantan, South and North Sumatra,
\nand Riau, which areas normally have a high number of hot spots.<\/p>\n
The government developed the technology in the aftermath of
\nthe worst forest and scrub fires in 1997\/1998 which caused a loss
\nof 11.7 million hectares of forest and some US$10 billion worth
\nof timber and disruption of economic activities.<\/p>\n
Other information provided by the Meteorology and Geophysics
\nAgency (BMG) and the forestry ministry include that of wind
\ndirection, the incidence of rain, and information on trees and
\nshrubs that are highly combustible.<\/p>\n
The offices' analysis gives four forest fire indicators: Blue
\nmeaning low risk, green for medium risk, yellow for high risk,
\nand red for extreme conditions.<\/p>\n
Meteorologist Edi said that while the slash and burn method
\nwas the cheapest, people should refer to the safer methods of
\nagriculture used by traditional farmers. He said they would take
\ninto account the direction of the wind, humidity and the position
\nof the sun before starting to clear land.<\/p>",
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